The
Royal International Air Tattoo 2006 is the biggest "airshow"
of the year and this year basked under blue skies for much of
the event. It was a difficult time to hold a military airshow
with so much uncertainty in the Middle East yet RIAT still managed
to create an event to entertain and inspire everyone. Paul Johnson/Flightline UK reports.
All Photography copyright of the Author.

The
heatwave was all too much for some, including the
usually Ice Cold French Mirage pilots who like everyone
sought any kind of shelter from the heat!

2006
certainly built on the success of the 2005 event with some exciting
new attractions. Early indications are that 167,000 spectators
came to RAF Fairford in the soaring temperatures that have characterised
July 2006. The high temperatures as well as attracting people
always cause a fair few problems for organisers with people
at high risk of heat exhaustion and it was good see plenty of
water tanks of drinking water around the airfield and free sunblock
being handed out. Over the weekend 232 people required assistances
from the medical centre and 45 of those were transferred to
hospital.

RIAT's
biggest department for the show weekend is the emergency
services which, like many RIAT staff, are volunteers
from around the country. Though no there were no
significant airside emergencies during the weekend,
there were a number of people requiring medical
attention, mainly due to heat related problems.

Always
an area of concern are the arrangements for getting in and out.
Getting in proved relatively easy once again and only few problems
incountered the other way. Saturday saw a few problems early
on as people began drifting away earlier because of the heat
while an accident on the Blue route exit caused a few minor
problems on Saturday. Once parked. everyone has to go through
security and this often means queues start early at the gates.
Alledgely, one man set up the queue at the Blue Gate at 2.45am!!!!
There's dedication for you! Queue's at the gates are always
going to a problem. We used Blue throughout the time at
RIAT and after a little confusion on Saturday enforcing a new
systems, yet another (more successful) system was introduced
on Sunday. But please RIAT, opening the gates earlier really
would help!

Making
plenty of noise and smoke for itself just before
the main flying display was the Vampire Jet Car
in full reheat.

RIAT's
static display may have been smaller than previous
years, but other organisers could learn a whole
lot from Fairfords' more "imaginative"
layout!

New
to RIAT for 2006 was the TRI@RIAT exhibtion at the centre of
the showground. The main emphasis of the exhibition was to attract
the next generation of engineers. The main arena saw a number
of demonstrations by famous stunt driver Russ Swift and his
team. There were also motorsport displays and "Robot Wars."
One item that needed to whole runway at Fairford was the Vampire
Jet Car that had been at Fairford the previous week attempting
some land speed records.

A great deal of
what makes RIAT work is all the result of teamwork
whether it be Showground Operations, the task of
running the Gulfstream Flight Centre or the VIP
hospitality. Team work even extends into the air
through ground crews and in the case of the Netherlands
Air Force PC-7 Display, a team coach. Captain Nick
"Fumes" de With was I constant radio contact
with Captain Annemiek "Meip" Macco thoughout
the display. Annemeik herself is an instructor with
EMVO having served 4 years on F-16 fighters. Next
years display pilot perhaps?

Of
course, there's also a massive static display at any RIAT. It
was noticably smaller this year, a reflection perhaps on the
changing times we are in. Less money and aircraft types certainly
don't help, but also just how busy those aircraft are. It was
noticable that some aircraft that arrived never even made it
into the static park before bing retasked, and that some aircraft
mysteriously dissappeared overnight! As in previous editions
of RIAT, the static park is much more imaganitive that other
shows in terms of layout. Aircraft aren't just parked next to
each other in a line but in small groups and themes. An example
of this were the Gripens from Sweden and the Czech Republic
and the F-16s from the Netherlands. One thing very noticable
this year was a very thin contigent from our own UK forces.
It seems the days of multiple examples of types from different
squadrons are gone with one a single example of each type present
on show. As you may have seen in the press elsewhere, the static
Harrier GR9 was lost in an accident at Kidlington on the way
to RIAT, thankfully without any fatalities

RIAT
would be nothing without Sponsors and nowadays the
Sponsors use RIAT as another outlet to display their
wares to potential customers Notable companies were
BAE Systems with the Hawk 128, Finmeccanica with
the M311 and M346, Pilatus with the PC-21 and finally
Boeing with the F/A-18F and MV-22B Osprey.

The
main event of the weekend however is the eight hour flying display
that we will detail in separate section. However, it is an integral
part of the show. Many of the flying participants were
really very exciting the watch incresing the spectacle though
we were a little dissappointed with the overall presentation
of the flying display which on Sunday in particular seemed to
lose all momentum as the afternoon wore on. There did seem to
be lot of non-air display movements which created large gaps
in the display. Certainly compared to other "big"
shows like Biggin Hill and Flying Legends, it did lack flow.
Many questions have also been asked of how much RIAT "borrowed"
fro Farnborough Airshow which was held the next week with four
acts almost certainly at RIAT due to the proximity of the trade
show. However, it was still the biggest flying display of the
year and had some great support from the visiting forces with
a number of joint flypasts with aerobatic teams to enjoy.

Even
after the flying display finishes that isn't end of the Air
Tattoo experience. The evening sees a full scale concert, this
year lead by Singer Clare Teal and the BBC Big Band in the relative
cool of the evening. With union jacks waving it's a fine way
to round off a trip to RIAT.

From
the reaction of people at the show and after the event over
the various message board, RIAT has produced another highly
enjoyable event for all, certainly a very memorable one. With
great weather and superb work by the many thousand volunteers
RIAT has maintained itself as the premier aviation event in
the UK for the public. RIAT Director Tim Prince said after the
show "Everyone I have spoken to has said what a wonderful
time they have had and how much they have enjoyed the day. Not only do we try
and pull out all the stops during our flying display but we have tried to
provide a wide range of entertainment on the ground for people to enjoy. The
team has risen to the challenge of improving on last year’s Air Tattoo and this
has been reflected in the increased attendance for this year." Next
Year RIAT returns over the weekend of the 14th-15th July 2007
and will be focussing on the 60th Anniversary of the USAF with
which RIAT enjoys a special relationship unsurpassed by other
european shows. It should be very special.